Throw and Grow: Tree Planting in Pakistan

Tree plantation efforts in Islamabad’s Margallah Hills National Park are being boosted by a new tree-planting campaign called “Throw and Grow”, launched by SMEC’s Oil and Gas team in collaboration with the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB).

Visitors to Margallah Hills National Park will be encouraged to throw “seed balls’ - a variety of different seeds rolled within a ball of clay – along the park trails.This unique and internationally recognised method of tree planting is said to have an almost 50% success rate, compared to the traditional plantation success rate of 10%. With Pakistan being a forest-poor country facing climate challenges, the seed ball strategy is considered instrumental for rapid plantation, said Tassadaq Malik, Managing Director SMEC Oil and Gas and a passionate environmental volunteer.

To date, nearly 15,000 seed balls have been distributed to park visitors under the Throw and Grow campaign, which has seen a positive response from media, government and civil sectors. The project aims to distribute 20,000 seed balls to coincide with the monsoon rain season.